Paris (AFP) – Jonas Vingegaard’s takeover in the Col du Granon, the handshake with Tadej Pogacar in the descent of Spandelles, the wind of panic on the cobblestones, the enthusiasm in Denmark and the furnace of Carcassonne: five highlights of the Tour de France 2022 which ends on Sunday in Paris.
Regime change at the Granon
This is where the Tour rocks. At the start of the 11th stage, Tadej Pogacar, winner of the last two editions, is a solid yellow jersey. He fell from his throne after a legendary stage where he was harassed all day by the Jumbo-Visma who attacked him in turn in the Galibier and the Col du Granon, of austere beauty. Taken in a pincer movement, the Slovenian ends up cracking, victim of a craving, in the terrible final climb where Jonas Vingegaard flies away to do a double blow: first stage victory on the Tour and first yellow jersey with now a lead of 2 min 22 sec on his rival in the general.
The Spandelles Handshake
This is the image of the Tour. In the 18th stage, the last in the mountains, Pogacar is, according to his expression, “all-in” to catch up with the general on Vingegaard. After four attacks in the Col de Spandelles, he tried everything for the dizzying descent. Under pressure, Vingegaard narrowly escaped the fall, unclipping his shoe. A few bends further, it is Pogacar who falls for real on the gravel on the side of the road. Vingegaard is waiting for him on the descent where the two men shake hands, in a gesture of fair play which is also worth abdication for Pogacar. Extinguished, he let his Danish competitor slip away to his second stage victory at Hautacam and knock out the Tour definitively.
Panic on the cobblestones
She could have changed everything. The cobblestone stage was dreaded by all the favourites. And it will have been fatal to the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, co-leader of the Jumbo-Visma with Vingegaard who, bruised after a fall caused by a bale of straw signaling overturned on the road, will leave the race a few days later, not without having spun a hell of a helping hand to the Dane in the Granon stage. This tumultuous 5th stage between Lille and Arenberg was also marked by a mechanical incident which put Vingegaard in “panicas he later confessed. In fact, at the time of the repair, we saw the riders of the Jumbo fidgeting like headless chickens, their leader changing bikes three times in a few seconds, before setting off again, finally without damage.
Madness in Denmark
Millions of people on the side of the road, phenomenal TV audiences and lots of smiles: the first three stages in Denmark, where the start was given on July 1, aroused enormous enthusiasm and were a real success. From a sporting point of view, the 2nd stage and its high-risk final on the double bridge of the Great Belt did not keep all its promises due to a discouraging headwind. But the enthusiasm of the Danes transformed this start of the Tour into a giant discotheque, animated by a local runner, the mustachioed Magnus Cort Nielsen, who put on a show by raising his arms at the top of each climb which he systematically passed in the lead. to consolidate his best climber’s polka dot jersey.
Carcassonne, an afternoon in an oven
It was hot, very hot on the Tour, practically from start to finish. The peak was reached during the 15th stage between Rodez and Carcassonne, with a thermometer tickling 40° degrees in the shade, which prompted the organizers to activate the protocol of the regulations on extreme weather conditions. “It was an oven“, reported the German Nils Politt at the finish where Tom Pidcock threw himself into the nearest fountain, to cool down, the old fashioned way.